Sisterhood of the Traveling Dan Pants: Later that day...

The Deeper Things

As I gaze at my reflection today, reflection takes hold of me.

I begin to ponder the profundities of life.

I think to myself that on Valentine's Day, there are really only a few things that matter.

One, of course, is love, and the other... well, the other may just be a good pair of pants.

I pause. I'm skeptical. I look deep inside. Valentine's Day is about love. But, what is love?

Is love just a kiss from your sweetheart, a candlelight dinner, a glass of champagne? Is it roses and cards and poetry? Is it ... chocolate?

Yes.

But

That is just the surface of love. I look behind me

I look at the camera

and I continue thinking. Dang. Where would I be without these pants? In my own quest for love, I have often been thwarted. I seek adventure. I seek meaning. I seek challenge. I seek to look beyond what is seen. To go beyond what is defined. To live beyond what I know. To know beyond what is understood. Success and failure are relative. The destination is the journey. I am on that road, and you know what? No sweetheart is there with me. No cozy candlelight dispels the darkness of the encroaching despair of postmodern isolation. No champagne erases the crush of defeat and the mocking laugh of your competitors.

But they say love is the most powerful force in the universe. That it overcomes the odds. That it conquers the hardest heart. So if love, being so strong, in its chocolatey Hallmark expressions don't stand up to the actual obstacles of everyday life ... what expresses its strength?

What is with you on the highways and byways of life? What protects you when you're on your knees in anguished crying? What sticks closer than a brother and keeps you safe below the belt and always covers your a**?

A good pair of pants, of course.

OH NO!